The White House said today that it supports cell phone users' right to unlock their devices, which runs contrary to a recent decision from the Copyright Office.

"Neither criminal law nor technological locks should prevent consumers from switching carriers when they are no longer bound by a service agreement or other obligation," R. David Edelman, senior advisor for Internet, innovation, and privacy, said in the White House's official response to a recent petition posted to We the People.

At issue is an October decision from the Library of Congress's (LOC) Copyright Office, which gave consumers a 90-day window to unlock their phones without carrier permission before that practice became illegal in January.

The Copyright Office reviews the rules on unlocking (and jailbreaking) every three years, as required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This time around, regulators found that "there are ample alternatives to circumvention. That is, the
marketplace has evolved such that there is now a wide array of unlocked phone options available to consumers."

That did not sit well with OpenSignal's Sina Khanifar, who added a petition to the White House site asking for the decision to be reversed. It recently passed the 100,000 e-signature threshold needed for an official White House response, and that response was posted this afternoon.

Edelman disagreed with the LOC's assessment. "The White House agrees with the 114,000+ of you who believe that consumers should be able to unlock their cell phones without risking criminal or other penalties," he wrote. "In fact, we believe the same principle should also apply to tablets, which are increasingly similar to smartphones. And if you have paid for your mobile device, and aren't bound by a service agreement or other obligation, you should be able to use it on another network. It's common sense, crucial for protecting consumer choice, and important for ensuring we continue to have the vibrant, competitive wireless market that delivers innovative products and solid service to meet consumers' needs."

Despite their difference of opinion on the cell phone unlocking issue, though, Edelman said the White House and LOC "agree that the DMCA exception process is a rigid and imperfect fit for this telecommunications issue, and we want to ensure this particular challenge for mobile competition is solved."

What's Next?
The White House can't just reverse the decision on its own. Instead, Edelman suggested that Congress impose "narrow legislative fixes in the telecommunications space," and urged the Federal Communications Commission to get involved.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) within Commerce "will be formally engaging with the FCC as it addresses this urgent issue," Edelman said.

In a statement, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said "From a communications policy perspective, [the LOC's decision] raises serious competition and innovation concerns, and for wireless consumers, it doesn't pass the common sense test. The FCC is examining this issue, looking into whether the agency, wireless providers, or others should take action to preserve consumers' ability to unlock their mobile phones. I also encourage Congress to take a close look and consider a legislative solution."

Finally, Edelman also pushed mobile providers to "consider what steps they as businesses can take to ensure that their customers can fully reap the benefits and features they expect when purchasing their devices."

Petition author Khanifar said that Edelman called him today to deliver the news.

"I'm really glad to see the White House taking action on an issue that's clearly very important to people," Khanifar said. "As the White House said in the response, keeping unlocking legal is really 'common sense,' and I'm excited to see them recognizing this. David was enthusiastic about getting this fixed as quickly as possible."

Khanifar said the decision was "a big victory for consumers."

"A lot of people reacted skeptically when I originally started the petition, with lots of comments to the effect of 'petitions don't do anything,'" he continued. "The optimist in me is really glad to have proved them wrong. The White House just showed that they really do listen, and that they're willing to take action."

As for how to fix things, Khanifar suggested amending or removing Section 1201 from the DMCA, also known as the "anti-circumvention provision." He promised "exciting news on the campaign to make this happen tomorrow."

About the Author

Before joining PCMag.com, Chloe covered financial IT for Incisive Media in NYC and technology policy for The National Journal's Technology Daily in Washington, DC. She has held internships at NBC's Meet the Press, washingtonpost.com, the Tate Gallery press office in London, Roll Call, and Congressional Quarterly. She graduated with a bachelor's deg... See Full Bio

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